Jeff Schwartz is the executive director of Broad Community Connections. He is a native New Orleanian with a Master in City Planning degree from MIT. Broad Community Connections received a grant from the Community IMPACT Program to advocate for the revitalization of our city’s great urban commercial corridor.

Tell us about Broad Community Connections.

It was formed right after Katrina. It is a group of neighborhoods with residents from Treme, Lower Mid-City, Mid-City and Faubourg St. John with the purpose to basically revitalize Broad Street. Our mission is to make Broad Street a place to work, live, and play.

Why Broad Street?

Broad Street has significance throughout New Orleans history. It is a place with a lot of cultural relevance. We all know Treme was the birthplace of jazz, Faubourg St. John is where Degas spent some of his time, and Mid-City and Lower Mid-City are organically mixed income, mixed-use neighborhoods. Broad Street is the one thing that connects them all. It is never going to be a Magazine Street or an Oak Street, but it will be Mid-City’s Main Street.

What’s the interest?

These neighborhoods have such a uniqueness and charm to them. We find a lot of people are looking to reinvest in these neighborhoods. It is very attractive because it is not a developer’s vision but an organic New Orleans vision of what a neighborhood should be.

Is there economic potential?

Broad Street has 25,000 to 30,000 cars a day going by. We just have to figure out a way to get them to stop and shop.

What are you doing to promote that?

We assist with technical assistance grants, façade grants, trash clean-ups, and planting trees. We’re working with the State Department of Transportation to narrow Broad Street from three lanes to two with a bike path. We’re also looking to address the critical food access needs in the neighborhoods by creating a Fresh Food Hub, where we attract a comprehensive food service provider for the charter schools.

How do you describe your work?

While it is basically economic development, more importantly, we’re talking community development. We want businesses that are bringing something back to the neighborhoods whether it is a shoemaker or dry cleaner. It’s all about making the daily existence of living in your neighborhood better. The more mom and pop shops you have, the more local businesses you have and the more money that stays in the local economy. Twenty to thirty percent more money stays in a community when it’s a local business.

How should we be thinking of Broad Street?

It is open for business!

Listen to more about Jeff Schwartz’s vision for Broad Street on WWNO’s Community IMPACT series sponsored by the Greater New Orleans Foundation.